


Happiness in Other People's Hands

by wildforce71



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Jungle Fury
Genre: Gen, Introspection, Surprise Cameo, long version
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-01
Updated: 2013-11-01
Packaged: 2017-12-31 03:55:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1026955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildforce71/pseuds/wildforce71
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i> I believe we place our happiness in other people's hands. I believe that junk food tastes so good because it's bad for you. I believe I'm loved when I'm completely by myself alone. I believe forgiveness is the key to your own happiness. I believe in love surviving death into eternity.</i>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Camille's not sure what she believes yet, but with some help from her friends she's learning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Happiness in Other People's Hands

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Revieloutionne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Revieloutionne/gifts).



> This is the long version of my Power Rangers Day fic. Enjoy.

It's not as though Camille never leaves the temple. Ten thousand years is a long time, after all. Every so often she wanders away for a while; never far, and never long, but there's only so many times a girl can match the same wall before she needs a change of scenery.

She stays in the temple during Zordon's War, the Beast War too fresh in her memory for her to be comfortable leaving. She's aware of it, the battles raging over the planet, but nothing more, no details. It doesn't concern her.

Four thousand years later she ventures out to keep an eye on the demons who are gaining strength in a place that will one day be called Mariner Bay. This world still belongs to Dai Shi, and if the demons become too entrenched she might have to do something about it. Before she needs to take action, though, the human slaves rise up, entombing the demons and sealing them firmly away.

Three thousand years after that, the Animarian war begins. Camille watches it from afar; the humans of that country have protectors, and she's not eager to be caught up in their crusade. When the young human sacrifices his body to the Wolf to win the War, she returns to the temple, thoughtful. Humans are learning their power, and that they can call on it to do impossible things. That could cause trouble for Dai Shi on his return.

Just over two and a half thousand years later, a different kind of demon rise in the country called Japan. Camille feels the pull of their power from clear across the globe; she makes her way there, arriving as the battle between these demons and the samurai who have chosen to stand against them begins. The samurai win, forcing the demons back and trapping them behind an imperfect seal.

Camille is studying the seal's construction when one of the samurai discovers her. Unused to fighting, she finds it difficult to hold him off; after a moment, however, she remembers the dust she's carrying and tosses it at him. When the spell settles, the man has been turned into a fly. She snares him, swallowing him before he can escape.

She watches from afar as the samurai, including the son of the man she's just destroyed, pledge their lives and the lives of their descendents to fight off the demons when they rise again. It's a curiously defeatist attitude, and she ponders it as she returns home.

Time passes more quickly with her new companion, though it takes her nearly forty years to coax him to speak. Before she knows what's happening Dai Shi has returned, and she has little time to leave the temple then. And soon after that, she's at Jarrod's side in the Academy.

She doesn't regret her decision, nor any decision in the chain that brought her here. Camille doesn't remember her birth - or creation, whichever is more accurate. She only remembers endless, unwavering loyalty to a creature made solely of darkness and want. She doesn't believe she was ever human, no matter what the former Rangers say. Surely if she was once one of them, they wouldn't confuse her so?

"Ice cream's a dessert," Jarrod tells her when she asks him, after overhearing two of the youngest students discuss it excitedly. "Sweet, cold. You eat it after your meal."

Not at the Academy, though, where everything is monitored and kept carefully in balance, including their diets. Camille doesn't *need* to eat, especially now with Flit gone, but she joins in sometimes, understanding that it's about the social aspect as much as fulfilling a need.

"Ice cream?" Casey repeats when she asks him. One eyebrow goes up as he studies her. "You've never had any?"

"I heard some of the cubs talking about it," she says, not quite answering.

"You don't have class right now, right?" He glances around without waiting for her answer. "Where's...Jarrod! Come with me. You too," he adds to Camille.

Ice cream, she discovers in the loft at JKP, is soft and creamy, sweet and cool. Lily and Casey talk over each other as they discuss the different ways to eat it, different flavours and toppings until Camille's head is spinning. She slides one hand into Jarrod's and keeps eating.

She still doesn't quite understand. Ice cream is good, but not, as the cubs said, good enough to kill for. Jarrod tells her it's just a phrase, but she probably shouldn't use it. Her past, and his, have been kept secret, but the other cubs are still wary of them, sensing something on some visceral level.

Life at the Academy continues to surprise her. Every time she thinks she understands the rules, something changes. Jarrod does his best, but he takes so much for granted about this world his explanations always seem to be only half formed.

She's watching three students spar one morning when he joins her. Three way sparring isn't frowned on, exactly, but it's definitely subdued whenever possible, because it's so much easier for someone to be hurt. Camille thinks of the melees she trained in with a faint twinge of regret.

"What are you looking at?" Jarrod asks suddenly. He knows what she's looking at, but she understands he wants to know what she sees. She's never been able to hide anything from him, and she knows he sees her sudden concern.

"They're trying to hurt him."

"What?" He looks back at the spar, eyes narrowed as he watches the flow and ebb of movement. It's not exactly accurate; the attacking boy and girl aren't trying to *hurt* their opponent, but they aren't taking the care they should, using too much force and not pulling back. It'll be accidental injury through deliberate carelessness; they'll argue accident and get away with it. 

Jarrod watches for a moment before standing and calling out. "Break it up!"

Jarrod is, technically, a cub, but he fills in for Casey often enough that he's generally given the respect due a Master. Even if he weren't, he's taller and stronger than any of these cubs. The three spring apart; Camille meanders towards them, edging the victim away while Jarrod reminds the other two that three way sparring is supposed to be supervised, and that they need to practise pulling their punches. He lets them hurry away, turning back to Camille and the boy with a frown. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, sir," he says, meeting Jarrod's eyes easily. Camille's still learning how to read humans, but she thinks that usually suggests honesty.

"If you're having trouble..."

"No, sir, I'm fine. Thank you." He bows in Jarrod's general direction, turning and hurrying away.

Jarrod watches him go; Camille waits until he's out of hearing range to ask "What was that about?"

"He's gay," Jarrod says as though that means anything. "I need to find Casey. I'll see you in class."

Camille sighs and goes to find someone who can explain.

"It means he's attracted to boys," Theo explains a little later. She likes Theo; he's wary of her, which only makes sense, but always polite and careful, and he doesn't treat her questions as stupid.

"So?" Camille says blankly.

"Generally, girls are attracted to boys and vice versa," he says. He's moving through a kata, matching the rhythm of his words to his movements. "But sometimes boys are attracted to boys and girls to girls. There's nothing wrong with it, but some people use it as an excuse to pick on them."

"Why?"

"They need an excuse, so they can pretend they aren't just lashing out for the sake of it."

"You're a boy."

"Yes."

"Do you like boys?"

He eyes her for a moment; he doesn't miss a step in the kata. "It's considered rude to ask people that. If they choose to tell you, that's fine, but you shouldn't ask or try to find out."

"Why not?" Camille asks, frustrated. Everywhere she turns, another rule boxes her in.

"Because it's supposed to be up to the person to tell you." His kata draws to a close and he turns to face her head on. "You get to decide when to tell people about you. Who you were before."

That makes sense to Camille, and she nods. "I see. Thank you."

She finds the boy later that afternoon and offers to show him a couple of moves he won't learn at the Academy. The boy - Troy, she later learns - eyes her for a moment before shaking his head. "I can't pay you."

Camille files away 'pay' to ask Jarrod about later. "You can make sure they don't hurt you again." Troy wavers, and she adds, "You can owe me one." That should be safe, she's heard all the Rangers use it at various points.

Troy gives in, and Camille shows him a couple of moves that will make anyone back off very quickly. Casey comes past at one point; he has to know what they're doing, but he doesn't try to stop them.

When they finish, Camille says awkwardly, "You'll be able to get them to back off with those moves. Don't go any further than that."

"I won't," Troy promises. Camille thinks he's already standing taller. "Thank you."

Camille nods shortly and goes to look for Jarrod.

"Pay?" he says, rubbing at his forehead. "That's...complicated. Why?"

"Curious."

He gives her a somewhat jumbled explanation. By the end of it, she's grasped the idea of money, and work, and pay. It's not completely unfamiliar to her. She earned her place in Dai Shi's favour with blood and sweat and effort, after all.

Jarrod looks a little unsettled when she raises that comparison. She's never asked how much he remembers of Dai Shi's first life, or the ten thousand years he spent trapped. She wonders vaguely if he remembers her fighting her way out of the mass of his army, claiming her place as his favourite through sheer willpower.

She leaves the Academy the next day without telling anyone. The Masters won't look for her, and she doesn't care about the other students. She makes her way into the city, to Jungle Karma Pizza.

Flit greets her cheerfully in the restaurant and directs her upstairs without hesitation. RJ listens carefully to her question and considers it for a long time - long enough that she half-wonders if he's drifted off. Eventually, though, he stirs. "It's a bummer system," he agrees, "but it's the system we have."

"It's stupid," she says flatly. "Little pieces of paper? What good is that? Your team fought and bled and nearly died for this city, and they can't get the things they need?"

"They *can* get them," he corrects her. "If they have enough money."

"I'm not paying anything to the Academy."

"You and Jarrod are special cases. No fees for you."

She crosses to the window, staring blindly out of it. "It's not fair."

"No," RJ agrees softly. "It's not fair. But it's what we have. Work, earn money, buy what you need."

"You pay your workers."

"Yes. More than I should, but Casey increased Fran's wages and then I had to - no, that's not relevant," he interrupts himself. "My workers do a job and they deserve to be compensated. What did Dai Shi do when you performed well?"

"Didn't kill me."

"Bad example," he said, mostly to himself.

"No. It's a good example. Thank you, RJ."

She's never liked the city much; too many people, pressing in on every side, too many buildings towering overhead and spreading out on every side. The Academy is much better; their practise of balance extends to keeping trees and plants and quiet pools on campus. Camille feels a kind of relief when she enters the grounds, going to seek out Jarrod. The Masters won't have done anything about her absence, but he'll be worrying.

She finds him in the library, a quiet, rarely used room. It generally reminds her of Dai Shi's prison, at least the way she saw it, though there's no candles here. But the stone walls, the carvings, the air of something very solemn, all match with that small room underground.

Jarrod never goes near that part of the Academy, so she doesn't either.

He's working at something, surrounded by scrolls and the occasional book. Camille waits until he acknowledges her and then wanders away to study the carvings. The carvings in Dai Shi's prison tell of Pai Zhua's founding, and of the two Beast Wars. These ones tell of the years between, to those who know how to read them.

She's just debating whether to offer her knowledge of those ten thousand years - she knows a lot about what happened in the world while Dai Shi slept, a lot that's missing from the Pai Zhua records - when Jarrod appears, looking tired. "Ready?"

"What's the point of novels?" The question's absent as she continues to study the carvings; it's something she's wondered about for a while, and the location jogged her memory.

"I don't understand."

She glances around at the scrolls and books filed neatly away. She learned to read here, meaningless shapes transforming into words under Theo's patient tutelage, but it's not a skill she exercises much. "I understand writing histories, or to tell someone about something. What's the point of writing about something that never happened?"

Jarrod laughs softly, taking her hand and drawing her out into the yard. He prefers the sunlight, now. "I don't think I'm qualified to answer this one. I never did like reading much."

"There must be a reason," she insists.

"You can learn a lesson from something that didn't happen. Little kids learn all kinds of things by hearing stories."

"Like what?"

He shrugs. "Be nice to dwarves, stepparents are evil - no, not really," he adds at her look. Camille sighs, and he smiles, touching her chin to tip it up. "I can't answer this one, but I know who can."

Fran and Dom never stay away for long. They never stay for long either, constantly moving, but today they're at JKP, Dom pretending to work and actually talking to the female customers, Fran following RJ around and telling him about their latest trip. She abandons him willingly enough when Jarrod catches her eye, joining them in the loft.

Camille repeats her question and Fran frowns. "The point of novels?"

"As opposed to factual," Jarrod offers, and she nods understanding.

"Fiction can teach you things," she tells Camille.

"Don't trust dwarves?"

Jarrod is laughing softly beside her, but Fran smiles. "That, yes, but also - things about life, about living. About people. There are answers in novels, things you didn't even know were questions."

Camille comes away from that discussion with a reading list, provided by Fran and annotated by Dom. Jarrod takes the list away from her, and after a couple of days books start appearing in her room.

*To Kill a Mockingbird* leads into a lesson on the history of racism in general and in the South in particular. *The Chronicles of Narnia* leads her to Christianity and then to religion. *Nation* leads her to a study of belief, and science versus faith, and a long discussion on alternate worlds versus fictional worlds. *Harry Potter* shows her the hero's journey, and morals. She works through others, each one leading her to a new lesson, things she hasn't even considered, each one a torch showing her more of the world the humans inhabit.

The team have been inviting them to team night for a while now. Jarrod keeps refusing on their behalf, until the day Camille quietly tells him she'd like to go. He accepts without question. The next team night happens to be a movie night; Camille spends a lot of it discussing *Watership Down* with Fran, until Lily shushes her for 'the best scene'. Camille quiets, watching. The dialogue doesn't mean much to her, but she watches Baby and Johnny dancing and frowns.

Afterwards, Lily nudges her lightly. "Didn't enjoy it?"

"Didn't understand it." It's easier to admit that, now. "Why was it so important to dance like that?"

She looks at Jarrod, but he shakes his head. "I can waltz. Badly. Lily's the person you want for this."

"Waltz?" Camille repeats.

Lily starts humming, dragging Theo around in a stiff, formal dance very different than what they saw onscreen. "This is a waltz - Theo, will you let me lead? - It's a very formal, civilised dance."

"Are you really humming Disney?" Casey asks. Lily grins, spinning away from Theo and into Casey, who takes up the dance willingly enough.

"That's not the same kind of dance," Camille points out.

Lily lets go of Casey, who immediately grabs Fran, and the two waltz in the background as Lily explains, "Most of the time, it doesn't matter what kind of dancing you do. Dancing's about expressing yourself, it's about showing what you're feeling."

"Sometimes it matters," Theo tells her.

"Sometimes it matters," Lily agrees. "Some dances are more formal than others. You usually get waltzing at weddings..." She trails off at Camille's look. "Never mind. Dom, put some music on. Something with a beat."

Dom stops glaring at Casey and fiddles with the music system, and a moment later music fills the loft. Casey and Fran stop waltzing, but Lily starts dancing, movements much closer to the movie. "Just move with the beat," she advises Camille. "Let yourself go."

Camille doesn't dance, exactly, but she moves with the beat, feeling it fill her, feeling everything else drop away briefly. The sense of peace surprises her; she's never been able to mediate, but she imagines it feels like this.

As soon as she registers the feeling, it vanishes under the rush of surprise, but she thinks that Lily notices. When she and Jarrod are leaving, Lily pulls her aside and tells her to come back whenever she wants to.

"If you want to talk, or whatever," she says, and her eyes are very gentle. Camille doesn't answer, only nods and follows Jarrod away.

Dom comes to the Academy a few times over the next few weeks to teach classes. His approach to Pai Zhua is much looser than Camille's used to, much less formal. Jarrod doesn't seem sure whether to enjoy it or not. Troy's having a better time, though, and Camille finds the new viewpoint interesting. Dom is irreverent, not disrespectful, never cruel. It fascinates her, the line he walks without even seeming to notice.

The cubs love him, and he plays it up, teasing Casey or Theo or Master Finn, whoever happens to be around. Camille finds herself watching sometimes. He's so easy in himself, so unlike Jarrod, who's always so aware of himself; unlike Casey, who's always aware of others.

Dom makes a point of acknowledging her or Jarrod if he sees them, and he's there one day when she frowns over something the cubs have said. "What's up?" he asks, bouncing onto the bench beside her. She shakes her head, and he prods, "Come on, what have you heard this time?"

"What?" she says, distracted out of her thoughts.

"You think we don't see you? Watching, listening? Think we haven't been listening when you come to us?" He grins at her look. "What was it this time?"

"Maybe later," she murmurs, walking away and leaving him sitting there.

Jarrod's working with Troy, but the younger boy makes an excuse and slips away when he sees her coming. "What's up?" Jarrod asks, grabbing a nearby towel.

"Home."

"What about it?"

"I thought home was where you lived. But the cubs, today, they're looking forward to going home. So it isn't here."

Jarrod nods. "Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in."

"That doesn't help." It's easier to say that now; she's not afraid of hurting him, anymore.

"It's different to everyone, Camille. Usually it's where you grew up. Sometimes it's somewhere else. You don't think of the temple as home."

"No," she agrees softly. It was never home, even when she lived there.

"Some people never find home," Jarrod says, and he looks so tired that she drops the question.

Dom's in the courtyard next time she sees him; she waits patiently until he's finished talking to Master Swoop, coming to join her. "What's home?" she asks before he can speak.

Dom rocks back lightly on his heels. "You go straight to the point, don't you."

"Hello. How are you today? Lovely weather, isn't it? What's home?"

He laughs softly. "What did Jarrod tell you?"

She repeats Jarrod's explanation and Dom nods thoughtfully. "I don't think his home was really home. Out of curiosity, why are you asking me this?"

"Because you travel so much. But you keep coming back here. There must be something. Is it home?"

Dom considers for a moment. "The first thing you have to understand is that home doesn't always have to be a place. Sometimes it's a person, or people." Camille nods, and he continues, "Home is where you can go and be yourself, without any masks, without pretending to be anything you aren't, and know that you'll be accepted."

"And that's Jungle Karma Pizza for you?"

He smiles faintly. "Isn't it for you?"

That startles her enough that she she doesn't really notice him leave. It's some time later when Jarrod sits next to her, staring out across the courtyard. "Penny for them."

That's one she knows. "I was just thinking."

"Thinking about what?"

About Casey's patience and willingness to help them. About Lily's quiet acceptance and Theo's matter of factness. About Fran, helping and discussion and explaining; about Troy and how he keeps seeking them out, not to train but just to spend time with them; about Flit, who's never blamed her for anything and makes a point of being friendly; about Dom's quiet insight. About RJ, who seems to take it for granted that they'll come to JKP.

"I was thinking it's nice to be home."

Jarrod smiles, and she knows he understands. "There's no place like home."


End file.
